How to Sort Text & Cell by Color in Google Sheets [Best Practice]

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 3
Key Takeaways: How to Sort Text & Cell by Color in Google Sheets

To Sort Text & Cell by Color in Google Sheets

  1. Color your data as desired.
  2. Select the data range you want to sort.
  3. Go to the “Data” menu and click “Create a filter“.
  4. Click the filter icon, go to “Sort by color,” and choose a color to keep on top.
  5. Repeat the previous step for other colors in the order you want.

In today’s article, we’ll see how to sort by color in google sheets (cell colors), when we talk about sorting so there are many types of sorting that can be categorized and can be used for different purposes. In google sheets, we have a sort by the color feature that can be used to sort any range with respect to cell color, background color, or empty white cells as well. This is a very unique sort and makes it very convenient for us to sort our colorful ranges and make our data presentable.

We all know that sorting is used for arranging the data, organizing our data, and keeping the data following a specific pattern is called sort. The pattern can be of many types, and one of them is a color, text color, or cell background color. We can use both for sorting. We will further see how it works and how can we apply color sorting to our data.

Advantages of sort by color in google sheets (cell color)?

When we have a large data set that has some text color and some background colors, now what do we do? we categorize the data by any sorting method but what if we put all similar content with the same color. Can we sort a list with respect to its colors? Yes, we can use color sort, we need to learn how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) to sort our data with respect to its colors, it’s a very helpful sort method when we have complex data with different colors. We can pick any color from presets colors in google sheets and for each color, google sheets will assign a color name that helps us organize our data color wise.

  • To make our dataset more presentable
  • To make our data organized and managed with respect to colors.

Download/Copy Practice Workbook

How to Sort by Color in Google Sheets (cell color)

Step 1

Open your data with google sheets, or generate a sample data. In this case we have added 2 columns, Operations and Department with some dummy data.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 1

Step 2

Color your data.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 2a

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 2b

Step 3

Select the data set (you want to sort), go to data in the main menu and click on create filter.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 3

Step 4

Now click on the filter and go to the sort by color option > All the colors will be listed with color names. Now click the color you want to keep on top.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 4

Step 5

Repeat the previous step, and now click on the color you want to keep in the second position, and so on.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5

You can sort your data according using text color instead of cell colors shown in below.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.1

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.2

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.3

You can also sort data using text color and cell color together. Example below.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.4

Now select the data and right click on it. Select Sort by colour > Fill colour > select your desired color (grey or Light purple 2 or light red 3).

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.5

After selecting color from Fill colour, Again select data and right click on it. Go to Sort by colour > Text colour > select your desired color. That’s all. You should have get the sorted data with different group with different Text colour and Cell colour.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.6

Final output should look like the picture below.

how to sort by color google sheets (cell color) 5.4

To recap, we learned how to sort by color google sheets (sort color), it’s a pretty simple method to learn, and to practice it you must try it yourself, pick different colors, use both function text color and fill color, and make your data colorful and arranged with the function of sort color in google sheets. Always remember to pick the same color, nearing color will not be sorted by this method, so make sure that you have selected the exact color for all the same-colored cells. For this purpose, you can use color name references to avoid mistakes.

Notes

  • Always remember to create a filter on your data set.
  • Carefully select text color or fill color when sorting, note that fill color refers to cell background color and text color is the color of font writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Sort Cells by Color in Google Sheets Based on Numbers?

Yes, sorting numbers in google sheets allows you to easily organize data based on color. By selecting the range containing the colored cells and choosing the Sort range option, you can prioritize the cells based on their assigned color. This feature enhances data analysis and overall organization in Google Sheets.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to sort by color google sheets (cell color), it’s not a very difficult function to execute when working with a data set. To learn and master this function, you need to practice it at least 2 3 times with any dataset. So, after this comprehensive guide you are able to answer the question; What is sort? How to sort by color in google sheets? Different between text color and fill color? Is fill color same as cell background color? Why do we need to reference the color names? and so on. I hope you find this article helpful. If you like this article then do subscribe to OfficeDemy blog for more updates.

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M. Shaiq Ansari

Hi, I am Shaiq, I am a highly skilled technical writer working full-time for Office Demy. I am specialized in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office applications. With a background in Software Engineering, I possess a deep understanding of the intricate functionalities and features of these productivity tools. Connect me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaiq-ansari/

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